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Cooling system and methodRelated Patent Categories: Ventilation, Electronic CabinetCooling system and method description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070167125, Cooling system and method. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ entitled COOLING SYSTEM AND METHOD (Attorney Docket No. A2000-704719), by Neil Rasmussen, John Bean, Greg Uhrhan and Scott Buell, filed on even date herewith, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ entitled COOLING SYSTEM AND METHOD (Attorney Docket No. A2000-704819), by Neil Rasmussen, John Bean, Vincent Long, Greg Uhrhan and Matthew Brown, filed on even date herewith. Both of these related applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of Invention [0003] Aspects of the present invention relate to data centers containing racks and enclosures used to house data processing, networking and telecommunications equipment, and more particularly to cooling systems and methods used to cool equipment housed by such racks and enclosures. [0004] 2. Discussion of Related Art [0005] Equipment enclosures or racks for housing electronic equipment, such as data processing, networking and telecommunications equipment have been used for many years. Such racks are used to contain and to arrange the equipment in small wiring closets as well as equipment rooms and large data centers. In certain embodiments, an equipment rack can be an open configuration and can be housed within a rack enclosure, although the enclosure may be included when referring to a rack. [0006] Over the years, a number of different standards have been developed to enable equipment manufacturers to design rack mountable equipment that can be mounted in standard racks manufactured by different manufacturers. A standard rack typically includes front mounting rails to which multiple units of electronic equipment, such as servers and CPUs, are mounted and stacked vertically within the rack. An exemplary industry standard rack is approximately six to six-and-a-half feet high, by about twenty-four inches wide, and about forty inches deep. Such a rack is commonly referred to as a "nineteen inch" rack, as defined by the Electronics Industries Association's EIA-310-D standard. [0007] Nineteen inch racks are used extensively in data centers and other large facilities. With the proliferation of the Internet, it is not uncommon for a data center to contain hundreds of these racks. Further, with the ever decreasing size of computer equipment, and in particular, computer servers and blades, the number of electrical devices mounted in each rack has been increasing, raising concerns about adequately cooling the equipment. [0008] Heat produced by rack-mounted equipment can have adverse effects on the performance, reliability and useful life of the equipment components. In particular, rack-mounted equipment, housed within an enclosure, may be vulnerable to heat build-up and hot spots produced within the confines of the enclosure during operation. The amount of heat generated by a rack of equipment is dependent on the amount of electrical power drawn by equipment in the rack during operation. In addition, users of electronic equipment may add, remove, and rearrange rack-mounted components as their needs change and new needs develop. [0009] Previously, in certain configurations, data centers have been cooled by computer room air conditioner ("CRAC") units that are typically hard piped, immobile units positioned around the periphery of the data center room. These CRAC units intake air from the fronts of the units and output cooler air upwardly toward the ceiling of the data center room. In other embodiments, the CRAC units intake air from near the ceiling of the data center room and discharge cooler air under a raised floor for delivery to the fronts of the equipment racks. In general, such CRAC units intake room temperature air (at about 72.degree. F.) and discharge cold air (at about 55.degree. F.), which is blown into the data center room and mixed with the room temperature air at or near the equipment racks. [0010] The rack-mounted equipment typically cools itself by drawing air along a front side or air inlet side of a rack, drawing the air through its components, and subsequently exhausting the air from a rear or vent side of the rack. A disadvantage of the CRAC-type air conditioning system is that cool air is mixed with the room temperature air, which is inefficient. Ideally, to make the system as efficient as possible, and to utilize as little energy and floor space as possible, the highest possible temperature air should be drawn into the CRAC units and the outlet air generated by the CRAC should be a few degrees below room temperature. In addition, airflow requirements can vary considerably as a result of different numbers and types of rack-mounted components and different configurations of racks and enclosures. [0011] For large data centers requiring CRAC units at or near the middle or center of the data center room, delivery of coolant to the CRAC units must be located within the raised floor since it is undesirable to secure coolant piping to the ceiling of the data center due to risks involved with the possible failure of the piping joints. Specifically, with traditional CRAC systems, the piping of the units requires significant cutting and hand soldering of pipes. Leaks are common and leaking water or coolant in a data center may result in risk of damage to equipment housed within the equipment racks. In addition, the potential of earthquakes may shake the pipes and cause the joints to fail. For at least these reasons, most data center designers and operators are unwilling to consider overhead piping for cooling a data center. SUMMARY OF INVENTION [0012] A first aspect of the invention is directed to a system for cooling a data center having a volume of space designed to house a plurality of electronic equipment racks, with each equipment rack being adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment and having an industry-standard width. The system comprises at least one cooling rack comprising a housing having a width approximately one-half the width of each of the plurality of equipment racks. The system further includes cooling system components supported by the housing. [0013] Embodiments of the system may further comprise a distribution box adapted to deliver chilled coolant to the at least one cooling rack and to receive heated coolant from the at least one cooling rack. The system may further comprise comprising a fluid communication system adapted to connect the at least one cooling rack to the distribution box. In one embodiment, the fluid communication system comprises flexible tubing and support members to support the flexible tubing. The flexible tubing includes at least one length of flexible tubing having a first coupling adapted to mate with the at least one cooling rack and a second coupling adapted to mate with the distribution box. The system may further include a controller to control operation of the at least one cooling rack and the distribution box. The cooling system components may comprise a heat exchanger housed within the housing of the at least one cooling rack, with the at least one cooling rack being configured to draw warm air over the heat exchanger to cool the warm air. A control valve may be operably coupled to the controller to control flow of coolant to the at least one cooling rack. In addition, a monitor may be operably coupled to the controller to measure environmental conditions of the volume of space. The arrangement is such that the controller is configured to control the operation of the cooling system components based on the environmental conditions of the volume of space. In one embodiment, the controller may be disposed within the at least one cooling rack. The at least one cooling rack may be a plurality of cooling racks. The distribution box may be configured to deliver chilled coolant to the plurality of cooling racks and to receive heated coolant from the plurality of cooling racks, with the controller to control operation of the plurality of cooling racks and the distribution box. In another embodiment, the controller is a main controller provided in one of the plurality of cooling racks. In yet another embodiment, a controller is operably coupled to the at least one cooling rack, wherein the controller is configured to determine the cooling capacity of the at least one cooling rack. The housing of the at least one cooling rack may include casters, coupled to the housing, to roll the housing along a generally horizontal surface. [0014] A second aspect of the invention is directed to a method of cooling a data center. The method comprises arranging a plurality of equipment racks in a row, with each equipment rack being adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment and having an industry-standard width. The method further comprises positioning a cooling rack between two equipment racks of the plurality of equipment racks. The cooling rack comprises a housing adapted to support components of a cooling system, with the housing having a width approximately one-half the width of one of the plurality of equipment racks. The method further comprises delivering coolant to the cooling rack. [0015] Embodiments of the method may further comprise controlling flow of coolant delivered to the cooling rack. The method may also comprise monitoring environmental conditions within the data center, and monitoring a cooling capacity of the cooling rack. The row of the plurality of equipment racks may be arranged to create a cool aisle in front of the plurality of equipment racks and a hot aisle in back of the plurality of equipment racks. The method may also comprise drawing air from the hot aisle into the cooling rack, cooling the drawn air, and exhausting the cooled air to the cool aisle. In one embodiment, the method may further comprise directly drawing air from the equipment rack into the cooling rack. The plurality of cooling racks may be positioned within the data center. The method may further include controlling the operation of the plurality of cooling racks. Furthermore, the method may include monitoring environmental conditions within the data center, and selectively controlling the operation of each of the plurality of racks based on environmental conditions within the data center. [0016] A third aspect of the invention is directed to a system for cooling an electronic equipment rack adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment, with the equipment rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the housing of the equipment rack having an industry-standard width. The system comprises a cooling rack including a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the housing of the cooling rack having a width approximately one-half the width of the equipment rack. The cooling rack is constructed and arranged to be positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack and that the fronts and the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack lie along substantially same planes. The system further includes cooling system components supported by the housing of the cooling rack, and a back plenum secured to the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack. The back plenum is adapted to isolate air within the equipment rack so that the cooling rack cools the air. [0017] Embodiments of the system further comprise a front plenum secured to the fronts of the equipment rack and the cooling rack. In one embodiment, components of the cooling system are adapted to draw warm air from the back of the equipment rack to the back of the cooling rack through the back plenum, and the components of the cooling system are further adapted to cool the warm air delivered to the back of the cooling rack and deliver the cooled air to the front of the cooling rack and to the front of the equipment rack. The system may further comprise a distribution box adapted to deliver chilled coolant to the cooling rack and receive heated coolant from the cooling rack. In addition, the system may further comprise a fluid communication system adapted to connect the cooling rack to the distribution box. In another embodiment, the fluid communication system comprises flexible tubing, wherein the flexible tubing includes at least one length of flexible tubing having a first coupling adapted to mate with the at least one cooling rack and a second coupling adapted to mate with the distribution box. The fluid communication system may further comprise support members to support the flexible tubing. A controller is operably coupled to the cooling rack to control the operation of the cooling rack. Cooling system components may comprise a heat exchanger housed within the housing of the cooling rack, with the cooling rack being configured to draw warm air over the heat exchanger to cool the warm air under the direction of the controller. A control valve may be operably coupled to the controller to control flow of coolant to the at least one cooling rack. In addition, a monitor may be operably coupled to the controller to measure environmental conditions of the volume of space. The arrangement is such that the controller is configured to control the operation of the cooling system components based on the environmental conditions of the volume of space. In one embodiment, the controller may be disposed within the at least one cooling rack. The at least one cooling rack may be a plurality of cooling racks. The distribution box may be configured to deliver chilled coolant to the plurality of cooling racks and to receive heated coolant from the plurality of cooling racks, with the controller to control operation of the plurality of cooling racks and the distribution box. In another embodiment, the controller is a main controller provided in one of the plurality of cooling racks. In yet another embodiment, a controller is operably coupled to the at least one cooling rack, wherein the controller is configured to determine the cooling capacity of the at least one cooling rack. The housing of the at least one cooling rack may include casters, coupled to the housing, to roll the housing along a generally horizontal surface. [0018] A fourth aspect of the invention is directed to a method of cooling an electronic equipment rack adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment, with the equipment rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the housing of the equipment rack having an industry-standard width. The method comprises positioning a cooling rack next to the equipment rack, with the cooling rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the housing of the cooling rack supporting components of a cooling system and having a width approximately one-half the width of the equipment rack. The cooling rack is constructed and arranged to be positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack and that the fronts and the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack lie along substantially same planes. The method further comprises securing a back plenum to the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack and delivering coolant to the cooling rack. The front and back plenums are adapted to isolate air within the equipment rack so that the cooling rack cools the air. [0019] Embodiments of the method may include securing a front plenum to the fronts of the equipment rack and the cooling rack. The method may further comprise controlling flow of coolant delivered to the cooling rack and/or monitoring the temperature of air within the equipment rack. [0020] A fifth aspect of the invention may be directed to a system for cooling a data center having a volume of space designed to house a plurality of electronic equipment racks, with each equipment rack being arranged in a row and having a housing adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment. The system comprises a plurality of cooling racks, with each cooling rack comprising a housing and cooling system components supported by the housing. The system further comprises a fluid communication system coupled to the cooling system components of the plurality of racks. The fluid communication system is configured to provide chilled coolant to and exhaust heated coolant from coolant system components of each cooling rack. The system also comprises at least one controller coupled to each cooling rack of the plurality of cooling racks to control the operation of each cooling rack. The plurality of cooling racks and the fluid communication system are configured to be modular to allow placement of cooling racks in different locations in a row of equipment racks within the volume of space of the data center. [0021] Embodiments of the system may further include a distribution box adapted to deliver chilled coolant to and to receive heated coolant from each of the plurality of cooling racks, with the fluid communication system comprising flexible tubing. The flexible tubing may include, for each of the plurality of cooling racks, at least one length of flexible tubing having a first coupling adapted to mate with the cooling rack and a second coupling adapted to mate with the distribution box. The fluid communication system further comprises support members to support the flexible tubing. The cooling system components may comprise a heat exchanger housed within the housing of each of the plurality of cooling racks, with each of the plurality of the cooling racks being configured to draw warm air over the heat exchanger to cool the warm air. In one embodiment, the system further comprises a control valve operably coupled to the controller to control flow of coolant to the at least one cooling rack. The system may further comprise a monitor operably coupled to the controller to measure environmental conditions of the volume of space. The controller may be configured to determine the cooling capacity of each cooling rack and display the capacity on the monitor. The controller may be disposed within one of the plurality of cooling racks, wherein the controller is a main controller provided in one of the plurality of cooling racks. The housing of each of the plurality of cooling racks includes casters, coupled to the housing, to roll the housing along a generally horizontal surface. Continue reading about Cooling system and method... Full patent description for Cooling system and method Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Cooling system and method patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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